Brighton squad jigsaw almost looks complete

With a month to go before the transfer window shuts but less than two weeks before the new season starts, Brighton appear to have successfully completed the majority of their transfer business.

It has been a tricky summer for the recruitment team, who for the first time have had to balance between making sure Roberto De Zerbi has enough players to compete in four competitions whilst not having so many that the squad becomes unmanageable.

The table below shows the senior squad as it stands and the outgoing loans that have been agreed to date. Much of the activity between now and the end of the summer window might well be further loans arranged for the leading academy players.

Thanks to the significant versatility De Zerbi values in players, the squad already has a minimum of three senior players covering every position.

That healthy level of competition will be retained even with the departure of Deniz Undav to Stuttgart.

Goalkeepers
Jason Steele and Bart Verbruggen will battle it out for the number one shirt with Tom McGill spending another season as third choice.

Carl Rushworth, James Beadle and Kjell Scherpen have finalised loan moves to Swansea City, Oxford United and Sturm Graz respectively.

The only remaining issue for Brighton in the goalkeeper department is trying to get Robert Sanchez off the wage bill. Both Chelsea and Arsenal have expressed interest.

Defenders
Defence was the one area where the squad looked short of cover during the Premier League Summer Series in the United States.

This, however, was partly overstated by the limited availability through injury and illness of Lewis Dunk, James Milner and Tariq Lamptey, plus the signing of Igor Julio only being completed once the players had left for the US.

In positive news, Andy Naylor of The Athletic has confirmed Dunk will be back in contention for the Real Vallecano friendly this Sunday and Milner for the Premier League opener against Luton Town.

Further defensive reinforcements may yet arrive. The Albion have been linked with Spezia right back Emil Holm, although Fabrizio Romano recently reported: “Brighton are currently not working on Emil Holm deal as new full back, despite reports.”

With confirmation that Levi Colwill has signed a new contract at Chelsea to end the Albion’s faint hopes of signing him permanently, it remains to be seen whether the Albion look to sign another new central defender to along with Igor.

Midfielders
There are still no signs of a breakthrough in negotiations between Brighton and Chelsea for Moises Caicedo. The odds remain more in favour of Caicedo departing, which De Zerbi has revealed will result in transfer business in midfield.

Speaking on the US tour, the Albion head coach said: “If Caicedo leaves, we will bring another big player. If Caicedo stays with us, I will be very happy,”

But there are reasons to think he might stay. With each passing day of the window where Todd Boehly does not meet Tony Bloom’s £100 million valuation, the chances of Caicedo remaining a Seagull increase.

Chelsea’s scattergun approach to transfers may also help. Like a greedy child in a sweetshop, Boehly’s eye appears to have been caught by Kylian Mbappe toffee. The Blues cannot afford both Caicedo and Mbappe.

No Brighton fan will mind Boehly opting for Mbappe. If Caicedo replicates the form and attitude he has shown since missing out on a move to Arsenal, then retaining his services is surely the best news that could be hoped from the window.

Number 10s and Forwards
Highlighting how strong Brighton look in forward areas, the star turns in the Summer Series were undoubtedly Simon Adingra and Joao Pedro.

An honourable mention at this juncture for Jack Hinshelwood, seeking to enter into competition with Pascal Gross and presumably Milner as to who can play in the most different positions.

De Zerbi has the challenging yet welcome task of picking between last season’s strike force of Solly March, Evan Ferguson and Kaoru Mitoma and the alternative of Adringa, Pedro and Julio Enciso. Not to mention Danny Welbeck.

So well stocked are the Albion in forward areas that Jeremy Sarmiento has departed for a season long loan with West Brom and the club feel comfortable in letting Undav leave.

With so many options, the rumoured additions of Mohammed Kudus from Ajax and a loan move for Manchester City’s Cole Palmer are bonus, nice-to-have signings rather than coming with any level of necessity.

Development players
Brighton continue to quietly recruit players to the development squad. To date, left back Jacob Slater has come in from Preston North End, central defender Ronan Ferns from Celtic, winger Adrian Mazilu from Constanta and striker Broady Peart from Basingstoke.

It will be no surprise to see further recruits to the development squad before the window closes, more so than the first team.

Peter Finn